Starting in September, High Point Regional High School in Sussex County is expected to become the first district in New Jersey to have a gun-toting security officer patrolling the hallways as a school employee, said the school’s superintendent.

Under a policy unanimously introduced last week by the school board, the district’s current security officer, a retired State Police trooper, would be allowed to carry a handgun while on school property. A second armed security officer, also a retired trooper, is expected to be added soon, said school Superintendent Scott Ripley.

"We’re not talking about the wild, wild West. We’re talking about a very structured policy that has been approved by the board’s attorney and our insurance carrier," said Ripley.

"We’re not going to have a guy at the front door with a shotgun. This is a controlled situation with retired officers who are already licensed" to carry handguns, he said, adding that teachers would not be permitted to be armed under the proposed new policy.

While many schools in the state have armed security resource officers in their buildings, the officers generally work under the authority of the local police chief even though their salaries may be funded by the school district, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association.

Retired police officers who provide security at schools, such as High Point, would work under the authority of the school superintendent and the local school board.

"A number of school districts have been considering the employment of retired law enforcement officers as a lower-cost alternative to the SROs, who receive police salaries and benefits," said Frank Belluscio, deputy executive director/communications director of the NJSBA.

Ripley said High Point Regional needed an armed security guard on its staff because of its "unique location" in the rural northwest corner of New Jersey bordering New York state.

The school is in Wantage Township, a 67-square-mile, mostly farming community that does not have its own police force and relies on the State Police for police protection. The nearest State Police barracks is in the Augusta section of Frankford, nearly 8 miles away.

Camouflaged hunters carrying shotguns can often be seen walking along county roads and many homeowners in the district own firearms, said Ripley.

"We’re in a relatively conservative area. This is not an urban area. Guns are part of our culture here," he said.

Ripley said he is unsure if High Point parents will accept the new policy. The salaries for the armed officers have not been determined, he said.

"I have no idea if there’s going to be any backlash, but living in the world that we live in today, you have to take a proactive approach" on school security, he said. "Our children’s safety is our No. 1 concern."

High Point is a sending district for about 1,110 students in grades 9-12 from Branchville, Frankford, Lafayette, Sussex borough and Wantage.